Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) will provide free methane detectors as part of a "landmark" settlement with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), marking the first program of its kind nationwide.
The settlement follows a December 2019 house explosion in South Philadelphia that killed two people and caused $1.4 million in property damage. The blast, which killed Brian Diu, 28, and Rudi Kambong, 65, was caused by a cracked cast iron gas main installed in 1928.
PGW will spend up to $800,000 on the detector program, which will launch within nine months. The utility also agreed to …
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Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) will provide free methane detectors as part of a "landmark" settlement with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), marking the first program of its kind nationwide.
The settlement follows a December 2019 house explosion in South Philadelphia that killed two people and caused $1.4 million in property damage. The blast, which killed Brian Diu, 28, and Rudi Kambong, 65, was caused by a cracked cast iron gas main installed in 1928.
PGW will spend up to $800,000 on the detector program, which will launch within nine months. The utility also agreed to pursue up to $125 million in federal grants to replace aging infrastructure.
As of 2022, over half of PGW's 3,000-plus miles of gas mains were considered "at-risk," consisting of cast iron or unprotected steel. The utility averaged 278 cast iron main breaks annually between 2016 and 2020.
The settlement, approved unanimously by the PUC, includes additional measures requiring PGW to enhance its safety protocols and improve communication with the Philadelphia Water Department and other stakeholders.
